Summary
Episode: 156Hosts: Jamie Phillips and BujGuest: Bryce OHagan, Power Play Training Center / Burlington Eagles / Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)Guest BackgroundBryce OHagan grew up in Burlington, Ontario, played minor hockey with the same group of kids from age 10 to 16, and was drafted to the OHL in the third round. He made the Saint Marys roster as a 15-year-old, played for Team Ontario U17 and Team Canada U18 multiple times, and finished his playing career at Ontario Tech. He fell out of love with the game at that point, came back to coaching at 25, met his business partner Chris Lowe, and has run Power Play Training Center since he was 25 or 26. He is now 34. This is his first season with the Brantford Bulldogs after turning down OHL opportunities in previous years due to family circumstances.Falling Out of Love and Coming BackAll three hosts went through a version of this. Bryce framed it well: you get to 22 or 23, the NHL dream starts to close, the grind stops being something you chose and starts being something you endure, and the resentment builds. Then a few years later you come back and fall in love with it in a completely different way. You see things you couldnt see as a player. You appreciate the small things. And you spend the rest of your coaching career trying to pass on the things you wish someone had told you.Biggest Regret: Carrying Every Goal Like a CancerBryces most honest coaching moment in the episode. He held onto bad games for days. A goal given up on Thursday would still be in his head the following Tuesday. He needed someone to tell him to let it go. He now tells his goalies constantly: the reason you hold yourself accountable at a high level is the same reason you got here. That competitiveness is not a flaw. The problem is when it tips too far.The goldfish memory concept from Ted Lasso comes up. You play 68 games in an OHL season. You cannot carry each one into the next.Pressure on Kids TodayThree factors the guys land on. Social media means a 12-year-old in Burlington can watch a 12-year-old who looks like a miniature Carey Price from anywhere in the world, and immediately start comparing their own skating. Coaches and parents post wins and best moments, not struggles, so the feed is relentlessly high-level. And the landscape of minor hockey has changed structurally: open borders, recruiting at age 9, the GTHL pulling kids out of their home leagues earlier. The result is that the pressure that used to exist for 18 and 19 year olds trying to get NHL jobs now lands on 15 and 16 year olds.Bryces Role with the Brantford BulldogsHe joined in July 2026, so the upcoming draft will be his first. He is on the ice Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from roughly 8am to 1pm, plus all home games. He is working toward being involved in scouting and has already built relationships with NHL teams coming in to interview Brantford prospects, which has given him a window into how pro goalie development guys evaluate at the draft level.What he looks for when scouting: can you skate, meaning can you get from point A to point B cleanly. After that, can you process the game when it comes at you. Size is a factor but he is not a 6'5-or-nothing guy. Adaptability is the third thing: when a save turns into a scramble, can you get yourself out of it.Vilmer: The A-Rated Prospect6'6 Swede, 17 years old, the only goalie rated A for the upcoming NHL draft at time of recording. His hockey IQ is the thing Bryce keeps coming back to. He had one conversation with Vilmer about getting inside the post a little earlier on a certain play. They practiced it for 20 minutes. It was in his game the next night and has stayed there. That speed of implementation at a high level is rare. Bryce also notes that he came over using an overlap quite a bit on certain plays, which is partly a function of being used to wider European ice, and that one conversation was enough to shift it.Chase Petrova: The Blueprint GoalieApproximately six feet, elite feet, methodical. Chase calls his structure his triangle and plays back on a 45. He can articulate exactly why he makes every choice in his game. Bryces framing of the blueprint concept is one of the better coaching frameworks in the episode: he will never stop a puck for a goalie, so the question is always how does the goalie want to do it, can they explain it, and can they find consistency within it. Chase passes that test at a high level.Hockey IQ as the Most Transferable SkillThe three hosts reach consensus on this. Bujs three ways to build it: small area games and battle, video work, and having goalies coach other goalies. Bryces addition: doing video with a kid and asking what they see rather than telling them what you see. The ability to explain why you are doing something is the fastest signal of whether a goalie actually understands their game.Regional Tendencies in European GoaliesSwedes tend to do more post work because every rink in Sweden has the peg drilled in. Russians tend to be more dynamic and all over the place and sometimes need to be brought back into structure. Ontario goalies have their own habits. Western Canadian goalies have theirs. Jamies Ukrainian goalie is navigating a language barrier through hand signals and WhatsApp translate. Vilmer speaks perfect English.Connor Hellebuyck Not Playing Against the JetsThe news drops during the episode. All three take essentially the same position: if he wants to play, let him play. The reduced win probability justification does not hold. Jake Allen is not more likely to win that game than a two-time Vezina Trophy winner. Buj draws two parallels: John Tavares going back to New York after requesting a trade, where the Islanders rallied and won, and John Tortorella playing Eddie Lack over Luongo in an outdoor game against Luongos wishes, which helped accelerate the end of both their runs in Vancouver. The point is that protecting a franchise goalie from a hostile crowd does not actually protect him, and it does not go away until he plays through it.Burlington Eagles ProgramBryce runs goaltending development across roughly 30 teams, single A through triple A. Four or five coaches work out of his facility. He moved away from attending team practices because the typical structure gave him five minutes with his goalies and 45 minutes standing on the side. Now goalies come to him Thursday nights, Saturdays, and every other Sunday for dedicated sessions. In a perfect world he would have young goalies play out as a player too, but he acknowledges that is a pipe dream in North American minor hockey.Parting Shots and ShoutoutsJamie: Mason Martin, Ryan Toshiro, and Andrew Crochak won the U17 World Challenge for Team USA, the first American win since 2022. All three train or have trained with Jamie. All three are likely high-profile NHL draft prospects next year.Buj: Lincoln Stinson-Kurtz went 47 of 48 for his first win with the Hamilton Steel after a tough start to the season involving injury and an organization change. Great kid who has battled.Bryce: His sons Bo (7) and Rory (5). Bo has spinal muscular atrophy and uses a power chair. This weekend he plays his first sled hockey game with the Hamilton Hammers against Woolwich. Rory loves art and nature. Bryce also shouts out Vilmer and Chase for letting him be part of the ride.Where to Find BryceInstagram: @ohagangoaltending Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. 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